Jake Heyward
{{short description|Welsh middle-distance runner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Jake Heyward
| image = Crop 1500 metres men final Tampere 2018.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Heyward at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships – Men's 1500 metres
| fullname =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|4|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Lisvane, Cardiff, Wales
| height =
| weight =
| country = Wales
| sport = Track and field
| event = 1500 m
| education =
| collegeteam =
| coach =
| club = Oregon Track Club
Cardiff AAC
| turnedpro = 2019
| pb = {{ubl
|800 m: 1:46.47 (Stockholm 2021)
|1000 m: 2:18.55 (Finn Rock, OR 2020)
|1500 m: 3:31.08 (Birmingham 2022)
|Mile: 3:51.99 (Eugene, OR 2022)
|3000 m: 8:00.93i (Cardiff 2018)
}}
| show-medals =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport |Men's athletics}}
{{Medal|Country |{{GBR}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}
{{MedalSilver|2022 Munich|1500m}}
}}
Jake Heyward (born 26 April 1999) is a Welsh middle-distance runner. He was a silver medalist at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in the 1500 metres and competed for Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Career
Heyward was a European champion at under-18 and under-20 level while he was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club. Having graduated from Cardiff University, he turned professional in 2020 with the Oregon Track Club.
Heyward went into the British Athletics Championship and Olympic trials in Manchester in 2021 with a 3:33.99 personal best for the 1,500 metres race, which was below the minimum Olympic standard, although he had broken Neil Horsfield's 31 year old Welsh record set in Brussels in 1990.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dai-sport.com/jake-heyward-welsh-1500-record/|title=Middle-Distance Ace Jake Heyward Obliterates 31-Year-Old Welsh 1500m Record In Olympic Qualifying Time|date=May 30, 2021|website=Dai Sport|accessdate=15 April 2025}} On 26 June 2021 Heyward finished third in the 1,500m at the 2021 British Athletics Championships, to secure a place on the British team for the delayed 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.{{Cite web|url=https://results.britishathletics.org.uk/20210625_Manchester/timetable/index/Data/M/1500_R_f.html|title=British Athletics Results|website=results.britishathletics.org.uk|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627090056/https://results.britishathletics.org.uk/20210625_Manchester/timetable/index/Data/M/1500_R_f.html|url-status=dead}} In Tokyo, despite being hampered by an Achilles injury Heyward came through the heats and semi-finals and placed ninth in the final of the 1500m.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/wales/61919154| date= 24 Jun 2022 |accessdate=15 April 2025| title= 'Maybe I bluffed the Olympics' - Jake Heyward predicts more in 2022|website=BBC Sport}} He finished his 2021 season with a 3:52.15 mile run personal best, and Welsh record, in the 2021 Diamond League event, the Prefontaine Classic on August 21.{{cite web|website=Athletics Weekly|accessdate=15 April 2025|title= How They Train: Jake Heyward|url= https://athleticsweekly.com/performance/how-they-train-jake-heyward-1039949210/|date=6 October 2021}}
In June 2022, he finished fourth in the 1500 metres at the 2022 British Athletics Championships.{{cite web|url= https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7184306?eventId=10229502&gender=M|website=World Athletics|accessdate=15 April 2025|title= Müller UK Athletics Championships|date=24 June 2022}} He came fifth representing Wales in the 1500m race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, running a new personal best time of 3:31.08. He won the silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany, finishing behind Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.{{Cite web|date=20 August 2022|accessdate=15 April 2025|url=https://www.eurosport.co.uk/athletics/heyward-rues-missed-opportunity-at-european-championships_sto9092931/story-amp.shtml|title=HEYWARD RUES MISSED OPPORTUNITY AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS|website=Eurosport}} Heyward finished as runner-up in the Fifth Avenue Mile behind three-time winner Jake Wightman in September 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/62876912|date=12 September 2022|accessdate=15 April 2025|title=Laura Muir and Jake Wightman win 5th Avenue Mile in New York|website=BBC Sport}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{World Athletics}}
- {{British Athletics}}
- [https://www.welshathletics.org/en/page/jake-heyward Jake Heyward] at Welsh Athletics
- {{Olympics.com profile}}
- {{Olympedia}}
- {{Team GB}}
- {{Team Wales|jake-heyward}}
- {{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|60045}}
- {{Instagram}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyward, Jake}}
Category:Welsh male middle-distance runners
Category:British male middle-distance runners
Category:Athletes from Cardiff
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Category:European Athletics Championships medalists
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games